CANADA: Stompin’ A National Identity Into Our Children

Stompin’ Tom was a folk singer, known for his habit of tapping his foot while playing the guitar and singing. He damaged so many floors that he took to using a “stomping board” under his boot. Every now and then he’d auction one off for charity – one in 2011 went for $11,000!

Stompin’ Tom was only famous in Canada. If you’ve heard his music at all, you’d probably recognize his Hockey Song.

Even in Canada, Stompin’ Tom is only really part of the cultural identity in rural areas. The gleaming sky scrapers and bustling freeways of Toronto and Vancouver don’t have much in common with Stompin’ Tom’s folksy tunes these days.

So when Stompin’ Tom passed away, I didn’t have many fellow mourners with me in hip, urban Vancouver. The 65 year old kennel lady at my work and I exchanged a hug, while everyone else looked at us strangely.

It’s not that I loved his music so much.

I think I have all of one Stompin’ Tom song in my iTunes collection, and even then I don’t ever listen to it.

She loves the way it feels, driving snowmobiles;And laughing at her dates, when they don’t know how to skate.She knows her hockey games, and the players of the world;She’s an all Acadian, northern lady-an, A real Canadian girl!” – Real Canadian Girl, Stompin’ Tom Connors

My Canadian musical tastes run more to Stan Rogers and the Barenaked Ladies than Stompin’ Tom’s nasal twang. His songs bring me back to evenings at my Uncle’s feet while he strummed on the guitar, that’s all.

But Stompin’ Tom was a true Canadian.

In a country where success is usually measured by American recognition, Stompin’ Tom sang songs with Canadian content, for Canadians.

He sang about life in various Canadian towns, about Canadian history, and about Canada’s messed up relationship with the United States.

“Canadian radio, boy is it grand, when you want to hear music from some other landThey tell us to like it and flow with the streamWe have no Canadian dream.” – No Canadian Dream, Stompin’ Tom Connors

He called Canadian artists who moved to Hollywood “turncoats” and was a vocal protester when it came to protecting Canadian culture.

“Goodbye Jim and Jackie, goodbye John and May,We hate to see you leaving, bound for the U.S.A.But if you don’t believe your country should come before yourself,You can better serve your country, by living somewhere else!” – Believe In Your Country, Stompin’ Tom Connors

He returned musical awards and turned down an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame out of protest to the company he would keep.

“I feel that the Junos should be for people who are living in Canada, whose main base of business operations is in Canada, who are working toward the recognition of Canadian talent in this country.”

I deeply respect Stompin’ Tom’s national pride.

“It’s Canada Day up Canada way, when the long cold winter’s done.And we’re shoutin’ “hooray” up Canada way for the great days yet to come.Where maple trees grow maple leaves, when the Northern sun is high.We’re Canadians and we’re born again on the first day of July.” – Canada Day Up Canada Way, Stompin’ Tom Connors

There isn’t a lot of national pride in Vancouver. Most people in Vancouver moved here from somewhere else.

Canada’s official languages may be English and French, but you won’t find many French speakers here. Instead people enroll their children in Mandarin classes.

Tim Horton’s may be the unofficial national restaurant, but in Vancouver, people eat sushi on their lunch break, not doughnuts.

Vancouverites don’t even really have a Canadian accent, possibly because most of them have a Chinese/Korean/Japanese/Punjabi/Persian accent instead.

That being said, Vancouver’s multi-culturalism isn’t anti-Canadian. If anything, Canada was built upon multiculturalism. Where the United States is a melting pot, we consider ourselves to be a salad bowl. Canada is made up of immigrants, and we’re proud of that.

But Vancouver’s multiculturalism is so extreme that there is very little cohesive cultural identity to be found in it at all.

And this is where my son is growing up.

At age 2, he knows more Farsi than French, and has eaten more sushi than poutine. He enjoys trips to “The States” for groceries, too… though I think he believes that “The States” is a Walmart in Bellingham, WA.

He’s not sure what Canada is. When we come back across the border he keeps wondering “where Canada go?”

Where, indeed, with icons like Stompin’ Tom leaving us behind.

Stompin’ Tom wrote Canada a letter before he died. In it, he said,

“It was a long hard bumpy road, but this great country kept me inspired with it’s beauty, character, and spirit, driving me to keep marching on and devoted to sing about its people and places that make Canada the greatest country in the world.”

“I must now pass the torch, to all of you, to help keep the Maple Leaf flying high, and be the Patriot Canada needs now and in the future.”

I wonder about how I can raise my son to love being Canadian.

I wonder if he will be able to speak some French, to skate, to ski, to sing “Barrett’s Privateers” when intoxicated, and engage in other basic Canadian activities.

Will he be proud of Canada?

Will he be a Real Canadian Boy?

How do you teach your children about their culture and heritage? Do you teach them national pride?

This is an original post for World Moms Blog from Carol. She can be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets

Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world.
Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write.
Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets

Comments

I would say that my husband I try our best to show our girls their family roots, where are families have come from, and what those places are like.

I wouldn’t say that we teach them national pride specifically. My parents were immigrants to this country, so we try to show them that the world is bigger than our block, their school, our city. We try to explore different places and different foods to show them that it’s good to keep and open mind and learn about how people and places can be similar, or different.

Thanks for introducing us to a little bit of Canadian culture Carol – I loved this! Will be sharing with my hubby – I think he might like himself a little Stompin’ Tom 🙂

I think that the U.S. is so very dedicated to national pride that you’re doing the right thing to expose them to the existence of other nations. The U.S.’s insular attitude is a worldwide joke. Canada, being dedicated to NOT being the U.S. tends to be the opposite… aware of other countries, but no one cares about our own!

I don’t know if I can say anything much about New Zealand and national pride – there is so much cultural cringe here. I do see it when Australians lay claim to something Kiwi and when our folk do well overseas, but at home – not so much. This is why I love hearing about how proud other people are of their homes. I love it, and I feel sad.

New Zealand must have lots to be proud of. The unique ecology, for example – imagine, a country that has NO native mammals, only birds! That’s pretty darn awesome. And the whole world is in love with New Zealand’s geography thanks to the LOTR movies.

If to be a Canadian is to be a salad bowl, your son with his Farsi and sushi is as canadian as they come! There’s something beautiful about national pride (as you so wonderfully described through the Stompin Tom example) and something lost when that gets burried or diluted. But at the same time national pride in the extreme can become a bit scarily jingoistic. Anyway, national character is always evolving and very different depending on your location. In about 50 years Tim Horton’s might be a legitimate national classic. ; )

Yes, and being America’s neighbours, Canada loathes jingoism. Canada defines itself, primarily, as “Not America”, so we shy away from anything that makes us think that we sound like Americans. But we have a lot to be proud of, and Stompin’ Tom wasn’t afraid to shout it from the rooftops!

Thank you for introducing a little bit of Canada today.
I have not explicitly started tutoring him about national pride, well, we live in an international community here, though in suburb Chennai. My son kinda learns about international boundaries, geographies and about everything else generally than just about Indian culture and such being in this community here. He has friends of his age in our Russian, French and American neighbours. I am not deciding what he learns and how, but am taking it as it comes and goes.

My husband and I were both born in Italy but we were also both raised in South Africa from a young age (I was 8 when we emigrated and he was 5). We met and married in this country and LOVE our “Mother City” (Cape Town). That said, we’re neither “proudly” Italian nor “proudly” South African!

It’s so strange that, when you’re a child of 2 countries, you’re always a kind of outsider. South Africans consider me Italian and Italians consider me South African!

I’ve tried to raise my kids (who were both born in Cape Town) to be aware of their Italian roots, and I have tried to get them to learn the language. Apart from that, we’ll root for the Italian team in sports and Ferrari in F1! 🙂

I have never heard of Stomping Tom! Thanks for sharing some Canadian culture with us. 🙂

We are such a melting pot, here, in the US, and within my own family! Just recently, I had the chance to lobby on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC with Shot@Life for global health. I never felt more American. The power to be able to knock on the doors of our legislators and tell them what we feel is important is a big part of the culture that I hope my daughters learn about being a US citizen. I hope to take them on the Hill one day when they’re older to lobby on what they are most passionate about!

Yes, America’s political demonstrations are certainly world famous! It’s interesting, though, that Americans consider their political freedom to be such a crucial part of their culture, but the rest of the world considers America’s political system to be very un-free.

Canadians think of America as being a land of evil politicians who want to do bad, bad things. But at the same time, more Canadians can name American politicians than can name their own… I wonder what that says??

Thanks so much for your comments today. I have loved Stompin’ Tom for years, having grown up in the Eastern Provinces of Canada where he originated, and having parents who were fierce Canadians. That ferocity in itself has made me a strong Canadian but it has been difficult to instill that into my children. Our culture so venerates those who have left Canada to make their “mark” that those who have stayed at home, such as Stompin’ Tom, are nigh near an embarrassment, so to speak. Definitely something to think on today. Thanks again.

Your post is especially well timed for me to read today. A very good friend of the past 5 years who is from Vancouver is moving back up next week. (I’m outside of Seattle). I just writing about how I am happy for them to be headed home, as they always wantted to return to Canada, even though I’m sad they’ll be farther away. But I want to visit Canada more, and their move as well as this post is inspiring me to do that as soon as this summer! Plus I’ll look up Stompin’ Tom. He sounds awesome.

I hope you come up to Vancouver to visit your friend soon! Seattle’s pretty awesome, I was there recently. You guys have Mount Baker on your skyline. We can’t beat that. Except that sometimes, on clear days, we can also see Mount Baker!

I think simply being aware of our culture and how it’s changing around us is important. We should remember to teach our kids about the past and how we are evolving. We don’t want to let them miss important cultural references like Stompin’ Tom!

Carol, I LOVED this post. I grew up summering in Maine with a number of Canadians and always loved the subtle but noticeable differences. At heart, I fancy myself more of a Canadian than an American (simply because I admire all that Canada has to offer and your culture more than my own). I was one of those global backpackers who falsely claimed Canadian citizenship by sewing a Canadian flag to my pack in order to avoid the unpleasant stereotypes attached to my fellow countrymen and the non-existent ones attached to Canadians. I’m sure Canadians hate when we do that; so sorry. I have never heard of Stompin’ Tom but I love how patriotic he was. I’m sorry for the loss. Thanks for introducing him to us all, even if it is posthumously.